Roller-type washing or dry-cleaning machine



Se t. 26, 1933. L. B. GREEN 1,928,100

7 ROLLER TYPE WASHING OR DRY CLEANING MACHINE Filed March 2, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet l I aviulliifi ln 1 4 Inventor.

, Zl'ee 3.6ree/7I an Sept. 26, 1933. L, B, GREEN 1,928,100

ROLLER TYPE WASHING OR DRY CLEANING MACHINE File March 2, 1951' 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Sept. 26, 1933. B. GREEN 1,928,100

ROLLER TYPE WASHING 0R DRY CLEANING MACHINE Filed March 2, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Le: Greey whichcan easily be construct such tacle part, and in Patented Sept. 26, 1933 i Q- Rotten-TYPE WASHING on DRY-CLEANQ I Lee B. Green, Globe Machine ,land, 0hio,va corpora V Application March 2,

' My invention relates to washing appliances of the. .general classv in which agitation is effected by rotating the container which houses the clothes and the cleaning liquid. I Generally speaking, my invention aims to provide an easily operated, inexpensive and compact. washing appliance of this class which will require no stand, pivoting means'or crank;

tire appliance as a uniton a table or bench; and

which will prevent the formation of a vacuum within the appliance, without causingliquid to be splashedonthe table: 5 j

More particularly, my invention aims to pro-v vide a household type of washing machine which can easily be operated by merely rollingthe entiremachine back and forth on a table, floor or.

bench; and one in which the weight of the cleansing liquidwill tend to halt the rolling.

In some additional aspectsymyinvention aims to provide aroIlablewashing appliance which will be equally suitable for use with anon-wetting (or socalled dry-cleaning) liquidv or with water; aims to provide such an appliance with i an air inlet disposed for minimizingthe ejection of liquid through this inlet, and with easily emptied drip-catching means to prevent the ejected liquid from being: splashed on the tableupon whichthe appliance is being rolled; and aims to. an appliance-so that it can read-' ily be set upright on a flat'surfacewhilefilling or emptying it, or while boiling clothes in it.

In some further aspects, my invention aims to provide a rollable washing appliance in which the rolling portions extend radially outward of the. receptacle part of the, appliance, in'which the. outward projecting of these portions willnot interfere with the use of means for.tightly.clamping the cover of the appliance to. the said reccpa vide a rollableiwashing appliance construction which will readily permit the tubular shell portion to be of a polygonal or otherwisenorr-cin. cular section to increase the agitation of the contents of the appliance while the latter is-being rolled, while allowing the rolling portions to be of circular or elliptical contours, and aims/to provide a construction in which the edge part of a detachable cover member can readily formone of the reliable portions.

In another operated by rolling the enthe-convenient..and effective use ofusuch clam ing means.

.H More-particularly; .rny inventionfaims;.-tjo p o-' vide an appliance of the-above recited characteristicsfin which the cover member hasperiorationsthrough which the clampingmeans-extend appliance, s'howing w Fig. 3115 which one rolling portion will the applianceis set with its of, the roller-or diskwhich releasably engage parts of: the "cover por-: tion, and in this aspect aimsto provide-appliance constructions in which the providing o fhthel I roller-affordingprovisions will not interfere'with Whentheysar operative; inwhicll portionsDof perforations will neither"materially increase'thediameter of theicover member nor: materially I decrease the rigidityof:this"member.

Still further and'also more d tailed objects will appear from the :following"specification and fromthe accompanying. drawings'yinwhichq;

Fig. 1 is a siderelevationof a roll ble washin .t i

this as, it appears whenyin the cover end, or from the '1 right-handside .of Figrl.

a-a a section takenx'along the line 3+3 of-Fig. 1 but (drawn on a reduced scale;

Fig. 4 is afragmentary sectiontaken along;

111184-41 2,. but drawn on. anaenlarged scale.

Fig. 5 is an enlargementbf a portion-of therend view ofFig. 2, showing one of theyclamping v means inan unlatched disposition.

Fig, 6 is asectionsimilar tothe,[upperleft- -v handportion-of Fig. 4a; but showing the-positions;-

of parts of the clamping devicewhen the clamp-v ing hook has just been engagement with the bead on the cover by another portion of the cover.

halted Fig. '7 is..a side elevationof anotheriembodi-w namely one in which one ment of my invention,

heel portions. is -partgof the bottom of the I panion roller jis-iormed separately from thecover member of the container.-

Fig. 8 .is an enlargedjand;fragmentary section taken longitudinally of the container! along the line 8- 8 of Fig. 7.

V Fig; 9 is a perspective viewof'an embodiment. .generally sirnilar to that of: Figs. 1 to 6';,.but,;

,object; my invention aims to provide a rollable washing applianceriin which the ..cover portion is pressed against the. recep-S tacle portion by interposed clamping means is anend viewfofathe same,- taken'iinom.

released from latching.

container while the comhaving ellipticalv roller portions disposed with the major axes of their elliptical contours disposed -in a common plane.

having only a single roller portion of larger diameter than the receptacle portion.

Fig. 12 is a'seotion'similar to a left-hand upper corner portion of Fig. 4, but showing a modified disposition of the cover-clamping means.

In the embodiment of Figs. 1 to 6. inclusivaj. 'my washing appliance-included a container comprising a receptacle portion and a cover releasably clamped to the said receptacle portion,.and

cular'general section; v such. as a square section with rounded. corners-[and desirably also is .pro-.

of; the said shell during -tainer, and the covermemberbeing constructed sealing it to the mouth end when thelatter is rotatedi has'two disk wheel portions respectively integral' with thecover and With-the bottom of the said receptacle aport'ion; thisbottom being. permanently secured to the shel-l'of the receptacle portion and the-bottom member (whichincludes one pf the said disk wheel portionsl'being formed both for readily supporting the receptacle por tion in arr upright position and for catching any liquid which may be splashed over the mouth the filling of the conto.:perm'it of tightly of thesaid shell. a 1

- This tubular. shell '1 ispreferably of a non cire vided with longitudinal flutes'2 which terminate short of both ends of'the said tubular-part aid .in agitating the. contents of the. container ;;iFitted into'and. secured to .the bottom end of this shell 1 is a correspondingly shaped flange3 which forms the periphery of the bottom 4 of the receptacle portion, and which flange connects this latter is being filled. i I

The upper-'- end offthe tubular shell 1 of the bottom 4 with a disk whee radially'outward'of the said; bottom. 'Tl'iisdisk portioniShas its peripheral. partrolled into rim .6 which desirably depends saidzdisklas shown in'Fi'g.

partially below the 4) and is thereafter curved upwardly'to form a rim of outwardly con-' vexed cross-section. The rim formation preferably extends'lin' cross-sectionlto an arc sufli ciently less than 270 degrees, so that the rim on thebottom member also constitutes an upwardly open "trough forj catching any liquid which may receptacle portion ofi'my washing appliance "is desirably flanged outwardly to afford a seat'for a packing ring, as for example by rolling this upperend into a tubular annular bead 7 on which a hollow packing ring 8 is seated when the cover. is

attached to the receptacle portion, the inner edge of this bead beingpreferably' flush with the bore of'the shell 1.

' The corresponding cover member includes a central disc 9 bordered by an upstanding annular v i bead 10" of inverted U-shaped section. Thisbead is shaped in plan view to register with the shell bead 7; and the'coyer bead 10 preferably has "its I inner flange 10A of a suificient height so as to dependinto 1 and of anoutsidediameter. closely-approaching that of the said bore. Thecover member also includes a disk wheel portion 11- extending out:

and-

1 portion 5 extending the bore of the tubular receptacle wallwardlyfrom the outer flange 10B of the said bead and having its peripheral portion rolled into a tubular cover rim 12, which desirably is of the same diameter and cross-section as the rim 5 on the bottom member.

To fasten thecovermember to the receptacle portion of the container, I providea plurality of clamping means spaced circumferentially of the container and preferably supported by relatively fiat portions of the'shell wall 1. As here shown, each of these clamping means includes a supporting bracket having two parallel wings 13 extending outwardly of the container from a bracket plate 14 bearing against (and welded to)'the outer face of the saidwall. Pivoted upon a horizontal. pin15 spanning the wings 13 is a forked handle 126A. Spanning the arms of this forked lever 16 and below the said pin 15 when the cover is latched to the receptacle portion is a second lever 16 which includes a normally depending horizontalpivot pin 17, upon which the lower end of a hook member 18 is pivoted. This hook memberextends-through a perforation 19in the disk wheel portion 11 of the cover and has its upperv end recurvedtowardsthev receptacle to form a hook 18A, after the manner disclosed in my copending application #507,338. filed JanuaryB, 1931 on a container closure.

To cooperate with this latching hook, I pro-I vide 'a keeper 20formedfrom the metal of the disk wheel portion 11 adjacent to the inneredge of the .perforationlQ and extending upwardly at a short distance from the adjacent portion of the .outer'wall 10B member, so that this keeper together with the said portion of the outer bead wall will constitute alatching troughinto which the free .end of the hook 18A will depend ;(as' in Fig; 4) "when the hook member is forced downward'b'y swinging the lever 16 from the raised positionofFigQG to the depending position of Fig.. 4. 5

The width. (radially of the cove'rmember) of each perforation 19, through which a-hook-member .18 extends when the cover, member is at-' tac'hedpto the container, is preferably such that theoutward edge 19A will be hook member when the "latter has been swung (as in Fig; 6) so that its center of gravity is farther outward 'fromthe'adjac'ent portion of the receptacle wall '1 than the pin 17 on which the hook. member is pivoted, thereby causing gravity to hold each hook member in a releasedcover member to receptacle has a generally polygonal section, each of the latching means is desirably opposite the 'middle of one of the receptaclesides, where such a side has the greatest spacing (radially of the member 18 can I of the head on the cover. I

engaged by t container) from the periphery to the cover and hence provides ampleroom for the correspondingd'isk perforation I9. Thispermits the corner portions, of the cover bead 10 to extend close'to portions of 'thecover rim 12,. asshown in' Fig. 2, so as not to require eter for. this rim.

When the cover memberihas. thusbeen latched an undesirably large diam- "for a rotary washing appliance into a vent receptacle-which has one partly fill this member 24 to the receptacle member after the clothes and the cleaning liquid were disposed in the recep-, tacle, the assembled container" can readilyxbe tipped on its side, and can be rolled back and forth on the topof a table 40 or the like. During this rolling, the cleaning liquid -2l-and the clothes 22 (Fig. 3) aretossed about, owing-tothe non-circular general section of the receptacle and also to the auxiliary flutes 2, so as to cause the liquid to swish back and forth through thegarments. This rolling can easily be efiected' manually,so that no crank iliary provisions are required. Furthermore, my washing appliance requires no supporting or pivoting stand; thereby saving both the cost'of such a stand andof the crank usuallyrequired erably reducing the packing and storage space occupied by an appliance of a given capacity-.-

By providing the cover member with perforatioris' through which the hook members can extend, I permit these members to be disposed within the periphery of the rim 12 of the cover memher, so that no part of the cover-clamping means will interfere with the rolling of the ap- And by disposing each of the hook portions of the pliance members in one of the widest cover disk portion ually cooling of this water wouldreduce its volume, thereby producing a partial vacuum in the container. Consequently, if the container were entirely sealed, the higher pressure of the outer air would prevent an easy manual detaching or the cover member after the container has again been'set upright and the-latching hooks have been released." To prevent the formation of such; a vacuum, I provide a suitable vent, preferably disposed where the Water is least'likely to be splashed through it, andfalso provide an easily emptied drip-catchingreceptacle for receiving any water or suds which may still issue through the vent. Furthermore within this drip-c tching receptacle vfor preventing the collected drip rolling of the appliances.

for these purposes, I cover member with an axial vent port 23 opening by the central part oi the cover portion 9, and which has its remaining wall-portions formed by .a cup-like drip-catching member '24 disposed in axial alinement with the vent port 23, this cup-' like member being secured-at its mouth toth'e I provide the said central cover portion. Then cup back of this member 24 with-a central aperture 25 which may be many times largerin diameter than the bore of the vent port 23, and

with a loose moistureabsorbent material 28, such as felt. Since it is customary in rotary washing appliances to use a quantity'of-liquid corresponding to. considerably less than half the capacity of the container, the bulk of theliquid 21 will usu-,

ally be below the axis of the appliance (aswill be evident from Fig. 3), and hence below the vent port 23, when my appliance is being oper ated by rolling it upon a table or other hori'zon- 'talsurface. With this, vent port disposed irna past the --vent port;

arrangement or other auxand also -c'onsid-- 11, I also can readily posi-H tion each of the clamping means so far radially rim 12 as not to be engaged companion I desirably provideineans from being splashed out of the drip-catching receptacle during the preferably provide thewall formed A tainer) than each of the-clamping means,'so

, son who is rolling the'appliance;

flat cover portion 9 disposed in a plane 'atrlght any liquid tossed up adjacent Y to "the cover. twill f tend toflow both upwardand downward freely Consequently, trivial quantities'of liquid will issue through this port during eachuse of my machine "into "the dripcatching I receptacle, and; 1 the liquid can"readily be drained out of verting the detached cover member ove'r sink or wash-basin. 'So also.,.:if any liquid has-been spilled over the'mouth of the re'cept'aclewhile the latter was being 'filled,, this will bewcaught bythe'trough of the basal rim'5 instead of flowing down upon the table, 'sinkor othersupport onywhich my -machine is being used;

In practice, I preferablymake the ing receptacle of .lessheight- '(wh'en the appliance is upright as in Fig. 9- than' the extreme height oi the cover bea'd lo'above themain :cover pori-1. tion-9,-thereby permitting the cover to rest firm-,-y

1y on this cover bead when inverted upon'a table 'orsink. Q

. However, while :I have-heretofore described my washing appliance in an' embodimentin which one ofthe wheel-like rims is-integralwith the cover portion of the appliance; and in which both rimshave circular"contours',-.I do n'ot' wish to be limited to these or other I details' 'ofthe construction and arrangement thus 7 disclosed,

since many changes mayjbe made'without'de- I parting either from the spirit-Lot my -,invention 4 or from the appended-claims." of the diskwheel For eiramplemat least one parts ofmy machinem ghtbe separately, formed. from the parts which constitute the 'liquid con tai'nerr Thus,Figs, '7 and 8 show an embodiment I of "my invention in which the peripheral portion;

of the cOVer'isiormed into a trough IOC":eX- tendin' entirely. around thev outer 'co'ver bead wall 10B and ad acent to that wall, intowhich troughs the clamping means ner' shown in my said copending'application. "In thisembodiment, one is on th'e'bcttom memberfas in Figf.--1-,1while the, v rim 26 is on the" outer edge om perforated disk127', which is formed separate ly' i from the cover member, has at its inner edgea flange 28 securedto the peripheral shell 29g'f In this "case, the clamping members do not extend through any other parts, but are disp'osedbe-l tween the.- cover member and the said diskj2'7; but the auxiliary wheel-forming part Ralso 'extends considerably further (radially of theflcon' that these means-will not engage thefsurfaceon which the appliance is being rolled andalso will not readily be engaged'by the hands of the. per-: Fig: 9 shows an embodiment inwhich the roll: er-like rims 30-and 31; are respectively formed on .the cover and the bottom of a cont'ainerwhich also has an unindented shell 1 portion ,32.; ;:Each of. these rims is of an elliptical contour, the major axes of these ellipses being in a common. plane extending through the axis-of the containen;

When this appliance is rolled, the elliptical'curva revolution of the roller-like --riins, thereby aug I menting the agitation 'of its contents.

,With the cover member attached as, in. Fig.9, the appliance there illustrated Iwouldj roll back.

ee -i i i t i h we: be. h

only, .quite 20" this receptacleubyzmerely in I a.)

dra -ate book afterithe'ni i ;1

or thedisk"w-hee'l rims-5 5 same covcrgflw membermay be attached withthe major axes of the elliptical rims are in planes at right angles to each other, as in Fig. machine will also tip the axis of; the container back and forth; .With the embodiments of both 'Fig. 9, and Fig. 10, the elliptical contour of the rims will tend to halt the rolling whenever one of the. rims has its major axis horizontal, there-v similar to those of forming downward by deterring it. from rolling off a table if propelled violently. However, I have found in practice, that a peripheral receptacle wall of generally polygonal section when coaxial with rims of circular contour will also have a considerable tendency. toward halting whenever one of its longitudinal edges'is at the bottom, so that I'preferably make the roller rims of my appliance of the more cheaply .manufactured circular contours.

Figs, -9 and 10. also show theuse of'clamping hooks 32 which hook over the cover beads 10, as I do not wish to be limited tothe providing of separately formed keepers 2 0 (a'sshown in Figs, 4, 5 and 6)ffor engaging the hook portions of the latching means.

Nor do'I wish to'be limited to the; providing of twocontainer portions which extend radially of the container for considerable distances beyond the shell of the receptacle portion. Thus, Fig. 11 shows-an embodiment in which the bottom '33 does not project beyond the receptacle shell 34,

perforations in the cover member. For example; with a lever andhook clamping mechanism of he s me en ra typ 4; the 5 cover member tions 36 disposed below its disk wheel portion 11, extensions 37 on'the outer as that shown in Figs, 1 and may have the keeper porwall ofthe coverbead, as shown in Fig; 12. This will permit the hook members .18 to be disposed entirely below the cover member in the upright appliance at all times.

'Since anyof the here illustrated'embodiments of my invention can easily be rolled manually back and forthon any flat horizontalsurface, my appliance with its integral wheelrim or rims is entirely self-contained, andisparticularly suited for use with socalled dry-cleaning or non-wet ting liquids, as for examplenaphtha .or mixtures I of naphtha with other ingredients; since such liquids can be employed cold. 7 However, when mittens or the the hands of the user, my appliance like protect can also be employed-effectively with hot water and soap flakes or the like, andwith such washing liquids the clothes can be boiled in theappliance. Such boiling is facilitated by my constructing the bottom member so that in the upright container the bottom-forming portion 4 of the receptaclewill be raised abovethe disk-wheel portion 5 thereby forming a chamber below the-said bottom portion 4 which permits my appliance to be used more advantageously over a: gas burner.

I claim as my invention:

1. A Washing appliance comprising a tubular shell, a'bottom member and a cover member respectively fitted to the two ends of the shell, each so that a rolling of the ceptacle and having its Figs. 1 and 2, except (as will receptacle is rolled,'the

through which theclamping means'extend when j r of the said members beingof larger diameter thanthe said shell and coaxial with the latter and having its outer end rolled into a rim forma tion; the rim' formation on'thebottom member having an annularopening directed toward the covergmember so that this rim formation serves as a splash-catching trough-when the, axis of the shellisupright,

2. A washing appliance comprising a tubular shell, a cover detachablysecured to one end, of the shell, and a bottom permanently secured to the other end of the shell, largerdiameter than thefshell and. having its peripheral portion rolledto forma bead of; arouate'section open toward the cover end of the shell so asto form a splash catching troughwhenthe 1 appliance is set upright.

3. A rollable washing appliance eompri si ng can-like receptacle, and acover memberreleasably attachedto the mouth end of the receptacle,

the bottom. being of the cover member having an outwardlydirected bead registering with peripheral portion extending radially outward from the said bead, and 'the bottom of the receptacle having av peripheral ex the mouth'end' of the/re tension projecting radially outward from the re,

ceptacle and of the same exteriordiameter.as vthe peripheralportion of the cover.

4. A reliable washing appliance as per claimB,

including plural clamping means each interposed member and a side portion ofthe receptacle and each extending throughthe between the cover portion of the cover -meznber, which; extends radially outward fromthe said bead r 1 '5. A reliable washing appliance'comprising a can like receptacle, a covermemberfitted to the mouth ;oi the receptacle, and clamping means extending alongside thereceptacle'ror releasably latching the cover member to the receptacle, the cover member extending to a greater distance than the latched clamping means does from the axis of the receptacle'so as to holdtheclamping means out of contact with a surface upon which the closed receptacieis rolledp. 6. A rollable waehing appliance'comprising a can-like receptacle, a cover fitted t othe mouth of the receptacle, and plural clamping means tacle for Y releasably' extending alongside the l latching the cover to the ,1 cieptaclethejcover extending to a greater distance than the latched clamping means does from theaxisof the receptacle so as to hold the clamping means out'of contact with a ceptacle is rolled, the coverhaving perforations through which the clamping means extend when] latching the cover to the receptacle.

j: 7. A' rollable washing the receptacle, and plural clamping means extending alongside the receptacle for releasably. latching. the cover to the receptacle, the cover, extending to a greater distancethan thelatohed clamping means. does contact with a surface upon-which the closed coverhaving perforations latching'the cover tothereceptacle, each of the perforations having its outward edge disposed for halting a portion of the clamping means inan'f ,unlatched disposition.

surface upon .whi'chthe closed re-,

appliance" comprising al can-like receptacle, a coverfitted to the mouth'of from the, axis of the re ceptacle so as to hold the clamping means out of '8. A washing appliance comprising a tubular shell, end

V means operatively having its central portion spaced inwardly of the other end of the'shell, the cover member extending radially of the shell beyond the said bead and having its periphery formed to form a rim adapted to roll on a flat surface; and plural clamping interposed between the shell and the cover mer ber, the clamping means being respectively adjacent to the sidesoi the shell and projecting when in 'a shorter distance from the axis of the shell than I I V receptacle anda cover tached to the month end of the receptacle, the. L

the radius of the said rim.

10. In a rollable washing appliance, a tubular shell presenting a plurality of substantially flat sides; a bottom member secured to one end of the said shell; a cover member having an outwardly directed annular bead registering withlthe other end of the shell, the cover member extending radially of the shell beyond the said bead and having its periphery formed to form a rim adapted to roll on a flat surface; the cover" member having hook-engaging portions. positioned radially outward of the cover with respect'to the said bead on the cover; and plural clamping means mounted on the shell andeach including ahool: member adapted to engage one of the said hookengaging portions, 1 Y

11. A reliable washing appliance comprising a can-like receptacle, a cover membernormally closing the mouth of the receptacle and of larger diameter than the said mouth and having a continuously curved periphery, the cover member being provided with perforations ally outward of the receptacle;

disposed radiand clamping means each including a part mounted on'the receptacle and another part normally extending through one of the perforations "in the cover member and 'hookingly engaging a portion of the cover member.

12. In a rollable washing appliance, tubular shell having itsbore of substantially polygonal cross-section, and a bottom member secured to one end of the said shell, and a cover w having an outwardly directed annular bead regisbeing of counterpart di'- the diameter of the shell;;

their operative positions to" ing considerably member tering'withthe otherv end of the shellpthe cover member extending radially of the shellbeyond.

the said bead and having its periphery formed to form a rim adapted to roll on a fiat surface; the cover member being provided with perforations disposed'outward of the said bead thereon,.'arid clamping means operatively interposed between the "cover member and the ing normally through one oi the said perforations. 7

spaced longitudinally of jecting radially of the container one endof the container having a substantially axial air portyanda drip-catching chamber 'proof the container and larger than said port.

14. A Washing appliance member releasably atcover member having therein 'a chamber conshell and each extend:

13. A Washing appliance comprising a container having counterpart peripherally curvedportions the container and pro beyond other f 1 parts of the container, uponwhich portions-the container'is adapted to be rolled back and'forth;

comprising a-can-like nected to the interior of the receptacle by an air port and connected to the o'uter'airby an-open-;

the receptacle. l 15. A washing applianceiasjper claim 14, in-

the saidchamber, V a 16. A washing appliancecomprisinga can-like receptacle, acover'member fitted to the mouth of the receptacle, the cover. member being formed so that the central larger than the said port,*the said port and opening being both coaxial with .1.

portion of thecover member is disposed below the mouth end. of the receptacle;

and a cup-shaped drip-receivingmemberhaving 7 its mouth portion attached to the outer face of j.

the said central portion of the cover, and having a perforation in its cup bottom, having a substantially axial air port leading from the interior of the receptacle to'the interior of the said member. 1 j j 7 17. A washing'appliance comprising a can-like receptacle and a cover:

member 'releasably *atthe cover member s v tached to-the mouth endof thereceptacle the f cover member having therein a chamber communicatingwiththeinteriorofthereceptacle by communicating with the outer 1] and opening being an air port and I air by an opening, the said port both coaxial with the receptacle. 

